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Content Overview
Unit 4: c. 1450-1750
Americas
Spanish America
Conquest of the Americas
Conquest of the Aztecs
(1519-21)
Hernan Cortes led an army to conquer the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico. He then established Spanish rule there & tried to convert the Aztecs to Christianity
Conquest of the Incas
(1532-72)
Francisco Pizarro led an army to conquer the Inca Empire in South America. He then established Spanish rule there
Labor Systems in the Americas
Encomienda
Failed for 2 Reasons
Spanish supervisors (encomenderos) employ Native Americans to work on plantations
1. Natives got sick easily
2. Natives knew the land & could escape
Hacienda
Americans who were in debt would work on plantations to pay off their debts
Mit'a
Existing Incan labor system; all adult males are drafted to work in silver mines
Slavery
Slaves from Africa come to the Americas to work on plantations
Casta System
Peninsulares
People born in Spain or Portugal
Creoles
Direct descendants of Peninsulares (European people born in Americas)
Mestizos
People of mixed European and indigenous (or African) ancestry
Bottom Classes
Indigenous Americans & African slaves
Spanish Silver Mines
Spanish exploited some major silver mines in the Americas
Spanish sent this silver via Manila Galleons to Philippines
This silver was used to purchase Chinese luxury goods
The global circulation of Spanish silver facilitated global trade in the 16th and early 17th centuries
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Triangular Trade
Raw materials cultivated by slaves
Americas
Europe
Manufactured goods
Slaves
Africa
Slavery in the Americas
Millions of African slaves went to Americas to work on plantations
High slave mortality → New slaves kept going to Americas
They harmonized African cultures with Christianity → Syncretic slave culture
These 3 facts describe the brutal nature of slavery
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